A day after the Bombay high court refused to interfere in the 85% domicile quota for private medical and dental admissions, the Supreme Court stayed admissions to unclaimed seats from the 15% all-India quota from Maharashtra. The move came based on a petition filed by students in Delhi who have sought a second chance at claiming the 15% seats in government institutes for NRIs and students from other states.

Maharashtra had ordered government medical and dental institutes to surrender seats by September 19 so that the unclaimed seats could be allotted to students from the general category on the basis of National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) score.

“This means we cannot do much about the unclaimed seats under the 15% quota till the Supreme Court gives us clear directions. Meanwhile, we will focus on filling up the remaining 85% seats,” said Dr Pravin Shingare, director of state Directorate of Medical Education & Research (DMER). He said students whose names have appeared in the first merit list announced on Monday should finish the process of seat confirmation by Thursday evening.

While students were rushing to submit documents and pay the initial fee to confirm admissions on Tuesday, others who have been allotted seats in government colleges were busy withdrawing admissions. “Many students from Mumbai have been allotted seats in government medical colleges in Latur and Ambajogai which they are not happy with. The students want to try their luck in private colleges closer home,” said Ruiee Kapoor, parent of a medical aspirant.

Tuesday was the only day for students to withdraw admissions to avoid a Rs10-lakh penalty.

Admissions to deemed medical institutes are in limbo as the stay on the process ordered by Supreme Court last week has not yet been lifted. DMER officials are trying to finish admission to private MBBS and BDS institutes in the next 10 days to avoid further delay in starting classes. “Deemed institutes as well as unclaimed seats in government institutes are the problems because of a stay on admissions. We hope that gets cleared soon too,” added Shingare.